Together Apart Rapid Relief Fund

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Maribyrnong has one of the highest population of artists in Melbourne, along with a number of significant local arts organisations – all of which have been impacted by closures due to COVID-19.  The Together Apart Rapid Relief Fund is designed to provide the local sector with the opportunity to continue to work, share their practice with the wider community and innovate through digital platforms.  In these times of isolation, we need the arts more than ever to keep us connected.

Please note: The Together Apart Rapid Relief Fund has now been expended, and applications are now closed. Read more about the projects funded below.

 

Organisations

Organisation

Project

Outcome

Footscray Community Arts Centre

FCAC Radio

Forty 20-minute podcast episodes showcasing local voices: First Nations, CALD, LGBQTIA+ and Artists with Disability working in a range of art forms

Trocadero Art Space

Troc Talks Online

Emergency rent relief, and a series of online videos, podcasts, written and visual ‘talks’ with artists whose shows have been cancelled due to COVID-19

Waterside Metal Art Studio

Video and web production

Emergency relief and expanded website capacity including high-quality videos of their workshop program to connect with audiences and facilitate sales of local metal artists’ works

Cinespace

Youtube Channel

Cinespace nurture diverse representation in films. They will establish a new YouTube channel featuring Cinespace film-making workshops, discussions on craft and the world premieres of four original short films created by Maribyrnong CALD film-makers

Women’s Circus

Video and online circus classes

Transitioning to online delivery of interactive Women’s Circus classes and the creation of a library of video classes for the community, including kids circus

Wit Incorporated

Wit Online

Transitioning the Wit Kids weekly drama classes for children aged 5-12 years to online delivery, professional development workshops for local artists digitally and presenting Wit Bits (excerpts of new works) online

100 Story Building

Online Literacy Programmes

A suite of online literacy programming targeted to disadvantaged communities locally, including interactive workshops, short creative activities and storytime reading sessions

Snuff Puppets

Off the Shelf

Emergency relief and a 6-episode series of hour-long live digital performances broadcast from the Drill Hall and directed entirely by the online audience. Online audiences will be welcomed to choose from the shelves of our massive puppet trove of signature

Snuff creations, viewers will interact, invent, direct and create together a live show of their own making.

L2R Dance

Online Hip Hop Dance Classes

Free, accessible Hip Hop dance classes presented through Instagram Live for the wider community and through Zoom for the L2R ‘family’ to keep their cohort of young dancers socially connected and active

We Are Yarn

Isolation Conversations

Creation of Isolation Conversations online platform and short filmed interview segments with artists locally and around the globe to explore how COVID-19 is affecting their way of life

All the Queen’s Men

Lady Biz - research and digital Creative Development

An intergenerational collaboration between a team of female artists, older women over 65years and female tweenies aged 9 – 11yrs to research new work, Lady Biz, celebrating female strength and empowerment. A compilation of audio and visual recordings will be shared publicly as vignettes afterwards. Community callout for participants.

Serious Comedy

West is Best

A live 2hr lockdown variety show broadcast from a secret location in Maribyrnong. One house. Four rooms. Two well-known local businesses. Two special broadcasts.

West Projections Festival

West Projections Festival Online

A reimagining of West Projections Festival online and delivered within COVID-19 safe practices

Five Walls Gallery

ISOcolLAB

Emergency relief and a collaborative digital residencies for visual artists, as well as emergency rent relief for the gallery

The Art Room

Online Art Classes

Emergency relief and a series of online art classes to keep community connected and continuing to develop their skills and practices

Western Edge Youth Arts

Digital performance classes for young people

Performance and community connection workshops for local young people aged 13-25 years delivered by livestream and YouTube. WEYA also will post kits to ensure access to those with limited digital resources.

Farmwalker Films

Distanced documentary

Research and development of safe ‘contact-free’ documentary practices under lockdown measures, plus creation of a new doco

Makers Window

Online clay art classes and ‘clay kits’ for the community

Zoom clay art classes and making ‘clay kits’ available to the community for gold coin donation. Contact-free pick up is from a shopfront in central Footscray

 

Practitioners

Artist

Project

Outcome

Commercial St Dance Studio

Howwittmoves

Emergency rent relief for the Maidstone dance studio, and production of a series of instructional videos to keep young dancers active and engaged

Fury

Bog Roll Quest

An interactive, choose-your-own-adventure fiction piece presented via Twine comedically responding to toilet roll shortages

Alice Dixon

Isolation Dance Project

6 solo dance works created in response to images sourced from the dance community, published alongside a custom illustration

Daniele Poidomani

For Want of a Better Word

A multimedia project reflecting on language, and the unique and poignant words that exist across cultures – inviting Maribyrnong residents to contribute to a dictionary of ‘better words’ from their own languages. Community callout for participants.

Jinghua Qian and Liz Paterson

Footscray Audio Walk

A series of 4 virtual audio tours uncovering the secret histories of Footscray, presented as a Google Map that can be accessed remotely or during exercise for locals

Hamishi Farah

Airport Love Story

A series of illustrations unfolding on Instagram, exploring additional story arcs to complement the publication of graphic novel Airport Love Story published in the UK. Hamishi’s book launch was cancelled.

Genevieve Butler

Penelopa Does ISO Alone

8 short comedic videos featuring the clown character ‘Penelopa’, experiencing isolation alone.

Santilla Chingaipe

Multilingual Audio Project

Capturing community stories about COVID-19 that may otherwise be overlooked and underrepresented (particularly people from CALD backgrounds) presented online as a ‘living archive’. Community callout for participants.

Efren Pamilacan

Virtual DJs

A rotating cast of 4 local CALD DJs perform to fill the social, communal and active space of dancing together across a number of digital performances.

Evan Davies

Footscray Typeface

Creation of a digital ‘Footscray Font’ drawn from signage found within the municipality

Ross Daniels

Yet So Far

A short film exploring the family dynamic between a father and son separated by time, experience of homelessness and now COVID-19

Rebecca Jensen

Dance Series

Apocalypse dances, Deep Sea Dances and Dances for Time Travel – a series of 3 joyful dance events for the community incorporating festivity, free movement and guided movement

Golden Scissor Puppets

Oozlum the Cooked Chook Puppetry Videos

 

Life in isolation is examined through the lens of a new giant puppet and series of videos

Matto Lucas

Drinking with the Artist podcast

Well-known Drinking with the Artist podcast series engages with gallerists, creators, curators and arts workers in a fun, accessible and authentic way to both entertain and educate the wider community on the hurdles of working in the art world. Matto will make 5 new episodes celebrating local practitioners and the local experience.

Lana Schwarcz

Lovely Lady Lump Film

Creation of a film from archival footage of Lovely Lady Lump, a live comedy show about surviving breast cancer

Mich Oliver

Drawing native animals in Maribyrnong

A series of illustrations depicting local wildlife in and around Maribyrnong

Alex Brittan

Kittling Single Release

Online campaign featuring 3 weekends of virtual DJ sets in the lead up to the launch of a new music single by Kittling.

Joshua Allen

Hissy Fit 101

Live streams for BIPOC queer artists to connect, create and vent together

Sam Elkin

Transdemic

4 new episodes of Transdemic podcast, featuring interviews on the trans and gender diverse perspective during COVID

Irihipeti Waretini and Bella Waru

Tenei to Matou Kainga (This is Our Home) Video

The first in a series of intergenerational collaborative films from a household of Maori women artists exploring “what we lose in the dark, we shall find”

Pauline Delaney

Glass Blowing Videos

A series of videos and livestreams depicting the process of glass bead creation

Naomi Henderson and Nicholas Albanis

Dandelion Wine Music Video

A music video created to launch the band’s new album, in place of their cancelled European tour

Sarah Ward and Bec Matthews

Aunty Bear and Zaza Storytime for children

Character-driven storytime livestream performances targeted at rainbow families and open to all

Elizabeth Dawson-Smith (Miss Friby) and Chi-uh Neylon

Messages from a Mermaid

Messages from a Mermaid in Footscray is a 5 part online short film series that reflects on current affairs, engages with the local community and playfully reflects upon the COVID-19 crisis.

Karima Baadilla (Open Close Gallery)

Portraits of Mari(byrnong)

Four sets of residents/ families that works in Footscray and the wider Maribyrnong area create portraits during COVID for an online exhibition

Khalid Warsame

Two Things

‘Two Things’ literary blog featuring an article and an essay fortnightly on themes: (Taste/Internet), (Money/Art), (Masks/Future), (Home/Water), (Holiday/Closure)

 

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